The Mission
by CharlotteAva
Summary: Sakura strove to get stronger and stronger everyday after the war, but when a mission is assigned to her that leaves her in an unfamiliar place with no outside help, it will not be her strength that is tested...but her will. Shitty summary but the story is good. There will be adult content in later chapters. Read it and enjoy it.


**Yo.**

**I have a new story for you and I promise I won't leave you hanging like my others. This one is pretty much complete, but I will still be posting one chapter every Friday. Please review because I love constructive criticism, but if you don't have anything nice to say then blah blah blah. I do not own Naruto...Enjoy!**

_**Sakura POV**_

It had been four years since the war ended. The village was rebuilt, Kakashi became the 6th hokage, Sasuke went on his journey of redemption, Naruto began his training for hokage, and the members of Team 7 were dubbed the new sannin. Everything returned to normal routine and there was peace. Many of the Rookie 9 settled down, relaxing as they no longer had to worry about global threats for a long time. I, however, did not relax. I became the head of the hospital, but I couldn't help feeling I was still lacking. I surpassed Tsunade during the war and my medical prowess had no equal, but still I wanted to become more. Therefore, after four years of training my taijutsu with Lee, working on my endurance, and improving my ninjutsu, I became anbu and worked my way up to Anbu Captain. It wasn't easy but I'm pleased with what my hard work had produced.

_**No One POV**_

A breeze swept through the air, blowing leaves around in a flurry. The sound of feet jumping from branch to branch rang in the air. A kunoichi with long pink hair swiftly moved through the forest like she was riding on the wind. She dawned standard anbu gear except the shirt under her armor was red. Sakura Haruno landed on a branch and held her hand up, stopping her team.

"Hang on. I see footprints heading northeast. They're probably thinking that's the fastest way to get to the border." she said, "Yada, can you sense their chakra?"

"Hai, Captain. They seem to be close. Approximately 200 yards away, but moving fast."

Sakura smirked under her mask, "Then we should hurry, don't want to keep our guests waiting." The team bolted forward in the direction of their target.

Kakashi was in his office working on an obscene amount of paperwork. A flicker of petals appeared in front of him and he slowly looked up to see a pink haired anbu with a cat mask kneeling in front of his desk.

"Lord Hokage, I'm here to report the mission was a success. My team retrieved the rogue ninja and returned them to their respected villages." she said.

Kakashi sighed, "Sakura, how many times do I have to tell you to not call me 'Lord Hokage'? It feels weird."

Sakura giggled as she got up and took her mask off, "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I'm just trying to make it a habit so I don't call you sensei in front of the wrong person." she smiled.

"Yeah I guess, still makes me feel like an old man. Anyway, good job. I've already received thanks from some of the villages. Onto another matter though. I know you just got back from your mission, but there's an issue in the Land of Iron. Lord Mifune has sent a request to help defuse a rebellion. Apparently, some of the people in the Land of Iron aren't too fond of the idea of ninja and samurai working together."

Sakura scoffed, "That's ridiculous. We all worked well together during the war. That should've been enough proof that we are better as allies than enemies." she said somewhat irritated.

"I agree, however there is still a revolt on the way. All Lord Mifune knows is that it exists. He does not know the members of it, doesn't know their goal or location, he doesn't even know if the men in his ranks are part of it or not. This will be a top-secret, undercover mission. You cannot tell anyone. You need to make sure it is not discover that you are a ninja and especially not a ninja of Konoha. Mifune stressed that while he needs our help, he cannot let other villages know he is unable to maintain his village."

"That makes sense. Someone might attempt to instigate a battle between villages. The Land of Iron is profitable, if anyone sees weakness in it they would pounce at the chance to exploit it." Sakura said slowly putting the pieces together in her mind to formulate a solid plan of attack.

"Indeed. You will have to leave in two days. Normally I'd like to give you a break since you just got back, but there's no telling when they will strike so the sooner you get there, the better." Kakashi said.

The office door opened and Shikamaru walked in, "Lord Kakashi, I brought the mission details for the Land of Iron."

"Thank you, Shikamaru. Sakura take those, study them and head out in 48 hours." Kakashi said. Sakura was about to get going until her hokage continued, "One more thing, be safe."

Sakura looked back and smiled, "Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, I always am. I haven't failed a mission yet. See you later. Bye Shikamaru." Then she left in a flurry of petals.

"Kakashi," Shikamaru interrupted the silence, "I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling. There's just so little information about this revolt. It's not that I don't trust Lord Mifune, but I'm worried about what Sakura will find."

Kakashi was silent for a few moments, "I feel the same. As Hokage I know Sakura is the best choice for this mission. Espionage and recon are some of her strong points. As her former sensei, however, I did not want to send her at all." he said, words strong but fearful at the same time.

Shikamaru glanced at Kakashi, "We'll just have to have faith. We know she's strong and she's right, she hasn't failed a mission yet."

Sakura made it to her apartment. It was clean, but slightly empty besides the pictures of her friends and family. She went to her room and started undressing to take a shower. Her body filled out during the years. Waist small, breasts full, hips wide, and long tone legs. Many men in Konoha pined for her, but of course Sakura paid them no mind. She stepped into the steamy water and began to wash off her previous mission. _I'm going to have to be undercover, _She thought as she lathered shampoo in her hair, _If that's the case then I'm definitely going to have to dye my hair. There aren't a lot of pink haired girls out there. I'm also going to have to cover up my seal and my anbu tattoo. _She got out and looked in the mirror in thought. It was broken when she heard a knock on her front door. She wrapped a towel around herself and went to the door to open it.

"Hey Sakura-cha-What the hell!?" Naruto yelled. His face was completely red as he tried to cover his eyes and look at the same time. "Sakura-chan put some clothes on, ya know!"

Sakura glared, "I just got out of the shower dummy! Now come in so I can go get changed." she stepped aside.

Naruto carefully made his way in and faced the wall. Sakura sighed at how ridiculous he was. He was one of the biggest perverts she knew, but at least he had the decency to not gawk at her now that he had Hinata. "Give me a second, I'll be right back," she said heading toward her room. She came back wearing a red sweatshirt and black shorts and sat on the couch next to Naruto. "So what's up?"

"I haven't seen you in forever, ya know!" Naruto whined.

Sakura laughed, "Naruto I saw you last week."

He pouted, "Yeah but then you went on another mission, geez you go on way too many missions, Sakura-chan."

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck, "Then I guess you won't be happy to hear I'm leaving to go on another mission in two days." she said lightly.

"What the hell Sakura-chan! What's it about this time?" Naruto asked.

"I can't tell you. It's top secret."

Naruto snapped his head to look at her. _Top secret usually means dangerous. _He thought, "I see. How long will you be gone?"

"I'm not sure. There aren't many details in the mission. Only the goal."

"Sakura-chan, is it dangerous?" he asked nervously.

She looked at him and smiled. She placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'll be fine Naruto. Trust me." He looked at her and returned the smile, "As much as I'd like you to stay I need to start getting ready for this."

They both got up and walked to the door. Naruto looked at her over his shoulder, "You better come back safe."

"Don't worry. I'll see you when I see you" she smiled and waved as he left. _Now time to get started on my new look._

A black haired woman stood at the gates of Konoha. She wore a cropped, off the shoulder, mesh undershirt with a dark blue, v-neck, crop top over it. Her short black shorts were slightly covered by a blue apron style skirt that ended a little below mid thigh. Her shoes were black and reached her thighs. She had simple black fingerless gloves and a red scarf and belt to tie her outfit together. Lastly, her long, inky black hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head, with two long pieces framing both sides of her face. Sakura Haruno looked like a completely different person. The moonlight was pouring on her skin, illuminating it. She put her anbu mask on and put on her black cloak to begin her journey.

"I've told Lord Mifune about your departure. He said you've already been provided an apartment and job in order to make your backstory more believable. You need to get there as soon as possible." Shikamaru said seriously.

"I understand. I'll try to make the trip in four days. It'll be pushing it since it's normally a one week trip, but I think I can handle it." Sakura looked at Shikamaru. His face was filled with worry, even his curtain of apathy couldn't cover it, "Hey, I'll be back before you know it. I'll take some days off so we can all hit the barbeque place like old times."

He smirked, "I'll hold you to that. See ya later." he said turning around holding up his hand.

With that Sakura grabbed her bag and flickered away.

**Sakura POV**

I was jumping from tree to tree as fast as possible. "This is going to be difficult. I won't be able to use any ninjutsu or genjutsu. I also can't use any medical ninjutsu, that goes for my seal as well." I covered my seal and tattoo with chakra instead of makeup, so there's no way anyone will see it. Shikamaru seemed overly worried about me going on this mission, which is understandable since I don't even have any kunai or shuriken on me, only senbon. Still, that's not like Shikamaru. If he's worried that means I should be extra careful.

I continued at my current pace. It's been about four hours since I left the leaf village and I'm making good time. I made a stop at a small creek, "I think I can rest for a little while and continue in about ten minutes." I said and went to fill up my water bottle.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here. Hey boys looks like we have a cute little newcomer on our turf." a man fairly tall with a scruffy face said. He had five men behind him, most likely with the hopes of intimidating me. _Well this is gonna be annoying. _"I guess you don't know sweetheart but this area belongs to me and my boys. That means you're trespassing, but don't worry I'll forgive you if you give us what you have on you," he leered at me. Looking at me up and down, "and keep us company." he and his group started snickering.

I sighed, "Listen as much as I appreciate the offer, I'm kinda in a hurry so can we make this quick?"

"I don't really like you attitude, bitc-" I was in front of him in a second and slammed my fist into his stomach. He flew back into a tree. The rest of his posse had mixed expressions. Some glared at me, while others shook with fear.

"As I said: I'm in a hurry. Meaning I don't have time for your shit." I said haughtily

"You damn bitch!" Three of them ran at me, but I quickly threw three senbon at them, paralyzing them instantly.

I looked at the other two, "I suggest you help your friends instead of fighting." I was about to go before looking at them one last time, "Oh one more thing, you didn't see _anything_," with that I was gone in an instant.

Damn I was there for fifteen minutes, great now I'm slightly behind.

_**No One POV**_

Naruto was walking down the street and ran into Shikamaru. "Hey, Shikamaru. Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh hey, Naruto. Not much, just saw Sakura off now I'm heading back to Hokage tower. What about you?" He said.

"Sakura already left for her mission? I thought she said she was leaving tomorrow!"

"Yeah she was going to but she finished getting ready sooner than we thought so she decided to leave today."

Naruto looked at the ground and asked quietly, "Shikamaru...do you know what her mission is?"

He looked at him, "Yeah I do. I can't tell you though. It's classified."

"Yeah I know. Sakura wouldn't tell me either, but I just want to know. How do you feel about this mission? She's been going on a lot of missions lately, but I'm starting to worry more and more. Ever since we got back from the war she started training nonstop. I'm not sure why she wanted to go into anbu, but I supported her." Naruto said.

Shikamaru looked up at the sky. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a puff before answering Naruto's question, "This mission, I can't tell you much, but to be honest we aren't quite sure what she's getting herself into. We just know she's the best for the job."

Naruto looked up, shocked, "You're telling me Kakashi-sensei sent her on a mission without knowing anything about it! What was he thinking? He can't just do that! What if something happens to-"

"Naruto," Shikamaru cut him off, "Kakashi was just as worried as you, however, it's still an important mission and if we want it done properly then Sakura had to be the one to go."

Naruto sighed, "...Fine, but she better be okay."

"Yeah."

_**Sakura POV**_

I was close to the the gates when I stopped and went to a tree. The roots were raised so there was a hole underneath it. I took off my mask and placed it there, concealing it with a genjutsu. _No one can know I'm a shinobi of Konoha._

I walked to the gates and was stopped by a few samurai.

"Hold it. What's your name and reason for entering the village?" one of them said.

"My name is Tsubaki, I just moved here. I'm on my way to my new apartment," I said. I handed them the papers forged by Lord Mifune.

"Alright, they check out. Welcome to the village."

"Thanks." I walked away to my temporary apartment. When I got to the door I found the key under the mat, "Well that's unoriginal." I opened the door. It was small but furnished. There was the kitchen to the left as soon as you walked in. A couch, two chairs and a coffee table in the room in front of it. The bedroom and bathroom were on the other side. "This'll do."

I went into the room and put my bag on the bed. I pulled out my mission log. I'll record all my findings everyday so I don't miss any details. I placed it under the bed in the boards keep the mattress up. Tomorrow I'll be meeting Lord Mifune in a discrete location so no one will spot us together and get suspicious. "Time to get to work."

The next day, I got ready and went to the location. It was a tea and dango shop just outside the village. By the time I got there I saw Mifune sitting at a table, his back facing me. I sat at the table behind him so that we were back to back. I ordered a jasmine tea from the waitress before speaking. "I got into the village smoothly. No one was the wiser about my credentials."

Mifune sipped his tea, "Good. As you were most likely told, I do not know who I can trust. Not even my most loyal men. I cannot take any chances. I wish I could supply you with more information, but there is none."

Sakura thanked the woman for the tea and took a sip, "I understand. You're in a very difficult situation and I think you're taking the appropriate precautions, but I am curious as to how you found out about this future coup d'etat."

"A friend of mine confronted me about it. He had heard talk around the village and immediately went to me. He owns a weapon shop in the lower district. We served together in our younger years. He's the only one I can trust in the village besides you. You will be working in his shop to help your cover, he agreed to it when I mentioned Konoha's assistance." he said.

If Mifune is untrusting of his all men, but will take one man's word out of everyone in the village, then I definitely will take it too. "It's good to know we have one person on our side. When do I start?"

"Tomorrow. I have left the time and location on my table. Take it forty five seconds after I leave." he began to stand up.

"Understood," I said as I watched him walk away. _Forty, forty one, forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five. _I calmly got up and left money on the table. I slowly but swiftly walked passed Mifune's table and grabbed the paper, heading back in the direction of the village.

I woke up in the morning at 7am and went to take a shower. As I undressed I looked in the mirror, "Never thought I'd look good with black hair." I smiled lightly before getting in the shower.

When I was done, I left my apartment to go to my new place of work. I followed the directions Mifune gave me and came to a small shop in a lower district of the village. When I walked in I didn't see anyone so I waited by the front desk. It was a few minutes before a muscular man a head taller than me walked in from the back. His hair was gray, but his eyes were hard, "Can I help you? You lookin' for a certain weapon?" he asked.

I looked at him with a straight face, "Mifune sent me."

His eyes widened, "Come with me."

I followed him into the back and we went into the basement of the building. I could tell it was a storage room of sorts. Crates, supplies, weapons on the wall. _Gotta admit this is a pretty nice shop. Quality weapons. Tenten would love this place. _I smiled at the thought. "So I assume you're the help for our situation." he said breaking my train of thought.

"I am. You can call me Tsubaki while I'm here. It's probably best if you don't know my real name."

"Fair enough." He looked me square in the eye, "Mifune is my friend and I would do anything to help him, but since this situation is out of both of our hands we are relying on you. If you have any questions that you think will help with your missions don't hesitate to ask me. If I can't answer it then I'll ask Mifune, but don't go to him with questions."

"Wasn't planning on it. Thank you for your assistance. Even though I'm not really working here, I'd still like to help out when I can. Let me know what I can do for you." I said and smile slightly.

He smirked, "Alright, you can start by taking the new weapons I have in storage and polishing them so they can be put on display. I'll give you some supplies, oh and by the way, my name is Gou."

"Nice doing business with you, Gou." I said. He left to go get the cleaning supplies and I started taking out some of the katanas from the crates.

I was putting some knives on a table when a thought occurred to me, "Hey Gou," he looked up at me, "I have a question. Where do you think is the best place for some misfits to meet up?"

He thought for a moment, "If I was looking around for some troublemakers, I'd probably head to the 8th district. It's where all the bars and the rowdy drunks spend most their nights."

I smirked, "Then I guess that's my first lead."

When the day reached dusk, I said goodbye to Gou and headed home. I got their and started writing in the missions log. _If my first lead turns out to be a dead end then I need a plan of what to do next. _I got up and put on a black mask that made me look a little like Kakashi. I raised my scarf so it was a hood over my head. It was dark when I went out. I was stealthily jumping from rooftop to rooftop until I got to the 8th district. _I need to make a list of all the bars so I can mark them off a list as I go. _When I finished, I came out with 25 bars, "Geez how many bar hops am I gonna have to do in one night to get through all these as quickly as possible."

I got home and ate some food while updating my mission log. Sometimes being an anbu was a little tedious. I sighed and leaned back on the couch, looking out of the balcony doors at the full moon in the sky. _I wonder if he's looking at the same moon I am. _In all my travels the last four years has taken me I still have yet to run into _him._ I shook my head, "Not something to be thinking about right now, Sakura." I washed my dish before heading to bed, only to have dreams of obsidian hair and onyx eyes.

**2 weeks later (I'm lazy alright)**

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat dull. I've been working for Gou, going home to eat, and then hitting the bars. I haven't found anything suspicious at all, just the things Gou said: rowdy drunks. I had just gotten back from work and went to eat a sandwich. I've hit 18 bars so far in the last week and for once I'm happy that Tsunade's alcohol tolerance rubbed off on me. When I was done, I updated my log once more before putting it back and heading out to the bars. Yay.

**No One POV**

Naruto burst into Kakashi's office, "Kakashi-sensei have you heard anything from Sakura-chan yet?"

Kakashi sighed, "For the third time today, Naruto, no. I told you this isn't a mission she can update me on regularly. It's paramount that she has little communication with those not related to her backstory and her mission. If she does contact it is for an altercation that is out of her hands."

"Why won't you tell me what her mission is? Is it that dangerous? Why was it best for Sakura-chan to go? Just throw me a bone here, ya know!"

Shikamaru stepped in, "Naruto, I already told you it's classified. You don't have the clearance for this information."

"I know but I just don't like being in the dark." he looked down, "especially when it comes to Sakura-chan."

Kakashi looked at his former student. He understood where he was coming from. Sakura was someone many people cared about, and not just her friends, but everyone in the village she's healed. Be they shinobi, civilians, or children. She's helped them all. Even opened a private children's hospital after the war. Her reasoning was so pure,

_Flashback_

_Sakura was in the Hokage office in front of Kakashi, "I think it's an interesting idea to create a hospital solely for children, but this is really sudden. We're still working on rebuilding the village and-"_

"_That's exactly the point Kakashi," she interrupted, "How many children are hurt during an attack on a village? How many children loss their parents during the war? This isn't just a hospital for healing physical wounds, it's a hospital for healing hearts too. I don't want children growing up alone. Coming back to an empty home, no one to put a bandaid on scraped knees, no one to say welcome home, or goodmorning and goodnight to them. Isolating themselves because they don't think anyone will understand their pain. I don't want these children to go through that. I-I don't want them to feel what Naruto and Sasuke once felt." she looked down._

_Kakashi stared at her, 'You've always had such a big heart, Sakura.' He sighed, "Well you don't leave me any other option, but to say yes. Congratulations, there are now two hospitals in Konoha."_

_Sakura's eyes brightened, "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!"_

_End Flashback_

_I'm probably going to regret this. _Kakashi thought, "She's in the Land of Iron."

Naruto looked up, surprised.

"Kakashi!" Shikamaru scolded, but Kakashi continued.

"She was sent on a mission requested by Lord Mifune himself. There's a secret revolt forming in his village and he has no information except that it exists. He can't trust anyone in the village, which is why he asked for our help. This sort of thing is something Sakura is good at. That's why I sent her."

The room was quiet. In all honesty, Naruto didn't think Kakashi would give in so easily, "So you don't know when she'll be back?"

"No I don't. I can't send a hawk to her because I can't risk it getting intercepted and the same goes for her. She can't let anyone know she's a shinobi either because that would blow her cover."

Shikamaru was the next to speak, "She's completely on her own. We cannot, under any circumstances, help in anyway unless it is absolutely crucial."

Naruto clenched his fists, now aware of the situation, "Damnit!"

**Sakura POV**

I was on my way to hitting my third bar that night. I make it a point to have three drinks at each bar, enough to stay as long as I need to get a feel for the place. The last one for the night was a place called "Midnight Tavern" located deeper in the 8th district. When I got there, it didn't look any different from the other bars I've gone to. Wood doors, cobblestone foundation, dirty windows. "Here goes nothing."

I walked in and saw a bunch of men laughing and drinking. There were only men in the establishment. _That's new. Usually there are a few whores and skimpy waitresses. _I walked to the bar and was greeted by and uppity man with brown eyes and wavy, dirty blonde hair, "Hi there! I haven't seen you in these parts, what's your name?"

"My name's Tsubaki, and yourself?"

"Wow, Tsubaki, that's a pretty name. I'm Doku, nice to meetcha! What can I get you tonight."

"The largest bottle of sake you have will do."

"Right away."

I started looking around. A few people were staring at me. Not sure if it was because I have tits or because I'm a newcomer. Doku came back with my sake and went to take another order. I took a sip of my sake, letting the warm liquid go down my throat. Thanks, Tsunade, you definitely got me hooked. Just then a big burly man with bad breath walked over to me.

"Hey, baby. What's a fine woman like you doing in a place like this." he said. Seriously? That's one of the oldest lines there is.

"Trying not to be bothered, but I see that's not working." I said taking another sip.

He laughed a little, "You got some spunk, baby," he started leaning in to my ear and whispered, "I like spunk." his hand was about to touch my shoulder before I grabbed it and twisted it so he had to follow its motion. I got up and kicked him in the gut so he fell on the ground. Everyone started looking at me. _Shit..._ The room went silent. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I kept my straight face and sat back down to drink.

The big guy got up and rubbed his are, "You fucking bitch!" I side glaced him. I could take him without my chakra. Still better wait until what I do is called self defense. He started walking to me and raised his fist.

When I got ready to block it and beat the lights out of him, a hand landed on his shoulder, "Woah, woah, woah Fudo. That's no way to treat a lady!"

"Daichi, did you not see what this whore did to me?!" he yelled.

The man, Daichi I presumed, spoke again, "I sure did and it was hilarious!" Everyone in the bar started laughing. I mentally let out a sigh of relief. _At least this didn't turn out into an all out brawl of me vs. an army of drunk men. _"How about you go sit down. Hey, Doku! Get this dumbass some ice."

Everything resumed to how it was before the spectacle. I went back to my sake when someone sat next to me. "Is this seat taken?"

I glanced at the man who stopped the fight, "Go ahead."

I got a good look at him now. He was handsome. Tall, had narrow, dark green eyes, silverish blue hair that was short on the sides but long enough on the top to be pulled into a bun on the back. Overall, not half bad.

"You're not from these parts are you? Usually people that aren't in the friend group don't come to Doku's bar." he said getting a drink from Doku.

"I just moved here a few weeks ago. Thought I'd get a feel for all the bars." I said taking another drink of sake.

"By the looks of that bottle you can probably handle your drinks pretty well." he observed.

"I've had a lot of practice."

"I see. What's your name?"

"Tsubaki" I answered curtly.

"Tsubaki huh? You don't hear that name a lot around here. I'm Daichi, nice to meet you."

I nodded at him and we were silent for a few seconds. "You don't seem to be much of a talker."

"Small talk is a drag," Sorry Shikamaru, but I'm going to steal your catch phrase while I'm here, "I like to keep to myself most of the time. Besides, I don't know you."

He smirked, "In that case let's get to know each other. Then I can break down that brick wall you have up." he called for Doku and asked for a round of shots.

"What makes you think I have a brick wall up," I said, eyeing him.

"I just do. Alright we got a round of shots to last us through our little 'small talk' as you put it."

"Guess I'll finish my sake," I grabbed what was left in the bottle, probably a quarter left, and chugged it.

I saw Daichi look at me with shocked amusement, "Now I definitely wanna know more about you."

I smirked, "Guess we'll see where the night takes us."

We were on our third round of shots. I was getting tipsy, but no matter what I knew I wouldn't be giving any real information away. I have better control than that, even while drunk. I could tell Daichi was feeling the impact of the alcohol as well. _Guess he can't hold it as well as me, then again I don't know how much he drank before this. _

"So you said you moved here a couple weeks ago. Why here? What's your story." he asked.

"It's not that interesting really. I'm from a backwater village on the border of the Land of Rice Fields. It was a trash village of every man for himself, that includes children. My parents died when I was five in a bar fight. I was left to fend for myself. Stealing, fighting, training, anything I had to do to survive. When I was 20 I had enough of it and I left," I recited my backstory perfectly and flawlessly,

"Sounds like you had it pretty rough. I can't imagine what it was like being alone like that." he said sympathetically.

"It was rough, but it's not a big deal now. To answer your other question, I wanted to be in a big village and start a new life. I didn't want to deal with small town problems. Plus the shinobi life isn't really my style so I didn't go for any of the hidden villages and that's what brought me here."

"Shinobi life isn't your style, huh? Well I could agree with you there."

_Bingo,_ "Why's that?"

"Samurai and shinobi have never been on the best of terms, but when the 4th war happened it was a matter of human survival so everyone had to team up." he said looking in one spot on the bar as if he was remembering the war. It's not something I like to think about either, "I don't like shinobi. Never have. They're so pompous and it pisses me off. They think they're at the top of the food chain because of their elaborate justus."

He was kinda pissing me off, but I didn't show it, "You mentioned the war. Were you in it?"

He looked at me, "Yeah I was. After it ended I'd hoped we wouldn't have to deal with shinobi again, but here we are, _allied _with them." he looked irritated. _Is it so bad to have peace everywhere? _I thought. This man is so ignorant. "When I found that out I quit being a samurai. I refuse to associate myself with them."

"So all shinobi are bad in your eyes? I'm not judging. I just haven't met many myself. All I know is it's not something I want to deal with." I said taking another shot.

"Not all of them. There's one out there that has my trust."

I raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

"You might've heard of her, she was named sannin after the war," _Shit. Not good, not good, not good. _I kept my internal turmoil from reaching my face, but this was entirely unexpected, "Her name is Sakura Haruno, she's a well known medical ninja. The best there is actually."

"I think I've heard of her a few times." I said keeping my hands from shaking, "What'd she do to gain your trust?"

"I almost died. I _should _have died, but she saved me. I was on the ground with two swords in my stomach, going in and out of consciousness. That's when I saw her. I couldn't hear her, or see her face, but her hair is something I'll never forget. It was light pink, soothing to look at. Her chakra was kind and warm. It's because of her I'm alive," he took a shot and continued, "I saw her one other time, it was when we were facing that ten-tails monster. She destroyed the entire ground with one punch, it sure was something."

Well at least he didn't see my face, "She sounds incredible. That's a shinobi I wouldn't mind meeting."

He looked at me and smiled, "Yeah. I hope I can thank her one day."

Even if he was my only lead, I felt my heart swell with happiness that I had this kind of impact on someone I don't even know.

I smiled slightly, "I hope that day comes soon for you."

He smirked a little, "I finally got a smile on your face."

I was shocked for a second and then I cleared my throat and took my last shot, "Well it's been nice talking to you, but it's about time I go home." I left my money on the bar and started to walk out.

"I hope you come back tomorrow, Miss Tsubaki," Daichi said. I held my hand up as I left without turning back.

When I got back I collapsed on the floor, "He knows me...he fucking knows me...shit." This just got a helluva lot harder. If he begins to piece things together or starts remembering more of me the day I saved him, I could be in big trouble. My cover could be blown without me even doing anything. After I calmed down and composed myself I saw how late it was, around 3 in the morning. I went and took a shower. I sat on my bed with my log out. I needed to write this down. This is a detail I can't leave out.

**There it is my dudes, chapter one. What did you think? Gimme your thoughts on it. - C.A.**


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